Bindweed Archive
by QuatroPuppy
Summary: The core group of Fairy Tail were stuck in time for seven years. They returned as if only a day had passed and noticed great changes. Where was all this new technology coming from and what is the Magic Council so disturbed about? What lengths will the shady corporation behind everything - Bindweed go to when they initiate an all out war against Fairy Tail? Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1 - Concern

**Summary: The core group of Fairy Tail were stuck in time for seven years. They returned as if only a day had passed and noticed great changes. Where was all this new technology coming from and what is the Magic Council so disturbed about? Join Natsu, Sting and others as they investigate the shady corporation behind everything, Bindweed. **

**Sting x Natsu.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Contains slight spoilers if you haven't read the manga (but nothing past the frozen village.)**

* * *

_**Information: My first story "A Second Chance" is a prologue of sorts to this story. I will fill in all the necessary detail here. Basically, following the Daimatou Enbu, Sting, as guildmaster, invited Natsu to the Sabertooth guild with a request to improve the attitude of the members and during that time took the chance to get closer to his idol. Now together, Natsu has just returned to Fairy Tail with Sting after two months of training to develop "fire drive" and learning equilibrium magic. However they haven't forgotten the strange warning that Mirajane gave them about the corporation "Bindweed" after meeting the CEO, Lokar Bindweed.**_

* * *

…

-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **1-

...

-**C**o_n_**c**e_r_**n**-

…

* * *

**M**a_g_**n**o_l_**i**a_, _**E**v_e_**n**i_n_**g**

Darkness slowly took its hold on the town of Magnolia. The time came for businesses to close their doors for the night as workers returned home. It was now October and the trees had turned various shades of red and brown as the leaves slowly died. A lone leaf was caught up in a gust of wind as it spun down to Earth before getting caught on a certain white haired girl's face.

Lisanna brushed it off in slight annoyance and trembled slightly as a particularly cold blast of wind caught her unprepared. Despite the cold Autumn weather, she was in high spirits. Natsu had safely returned after two long months and it just seemed like she hardly got any time to spend with him these days. And no, she didn't like him in that way. While she once had a crush on him, she no longer felt that way since returning from Edolas. Back then she'd just assumed that Natsu and Lucy had secretly been dating or something which is why news of Sting had come as such a shock. But she had to admit they made a pretty hot couple. She giggled to herself as she continued walking through the quiet streets on her way home.

Not before long, she could see the house that she shared with her siblings - Elfman and Mirajane. It always gave her a sense of security, being together with her family. The young mage then jumped in fright as she swore she just saw something move in the corner of her eye. _What the hell am I so afraid of? It was probably just a cat and if it was someone suspicious I could just beat them up anyway. _

She adjusted the clothing around her neck as she took another step. However a cold, firm hand then pressed against her mouth as an arm yanked her back around the waist.

She struggled and tried to scream for help. "Mmmph!" Was all that came out. _I'm not going to go down that easily, _she thought. She bit down hard on the hand and simultaneously elbowed her attacker in the gut. The blow was forceful enough so that she winded her opponent and was able to escape.

However, just as she thought she was saved, she felt a crushing grip on her wrist. The last thing she felt was a sharp needle piercing her arm as the world faded to black.

* * *

**M**e_a_**n**w_h_**i**l_e, _**A**t _F_**a**i_r_**y **T_a_**i**l

Most of the guild members had already left by now after a quick celebration for Natsu's return. Happy and Lector had gone for a sleep over at Wendy's apartment claiming they were sick of the 'lovey-dovey' couple.

The pink haired Dragon Slayer sighed contentedly as he tucked into a plate of fire chicken. "As always, your cooking is the best, Mira-chan!" Natsu exclaimed, taking a bite.

"I'm glad you like it, Natsu." The barmaid smiled sweetly.

"Hey! You didn't like my guild's food?" Sting pouted.

"But Mira-chan always sets it on fire for me."

"You could try _asking_." They continued like this for a while, Natsu eventually polishing off his dish.

Mirajane paid little attention to the petty argument as she watched the last guild member leave. She waved goodbye before turning to the two boys.

"Master Makarov and I would like to speak to you two tomorrow morning if that's not too much trouble."

"Is it about..." Natsu started before Mirajane pressed a hand over his mouth.

"Please don't think about it now. Just don't wake up too late." She smiled again.

"But..." Natsu tried to protest before Sting placed his arm around the other's shoulder.

"She's right you know." Sting then leaned in closer and started whispering in Natsu's ear. "Besides, now we can finally not be interrupted by those cats of ours." Sting said suggestively. Natsu realised where this was going and blushed slightly. _That seems to have __snapped him out of it__, _the blonde thought.

"Race you home..." Natsu teased.

"I don't know where you live, idiot."

"You'll have to keep up with me. I didn't think you were _that slow._" He then burst out of the guild doors, grinning manically. Sting growled before taking off in close pursuit.

Mirajane sighed as she began the process of locking all the doors and switching off the lights. When the last switch was flipped, the sound echoed as the grand hall was engulfed in darkness. Mirajane walked out into the moonlit Magnolia streets, locking the main entrance before she left.

* * *

**A**t _N_**a**t_s_**u'**s _H_**o**u_s_e

Sting scrambled up the last stretch of the forest trail leading to Natsu's house on the outskirts of Magnolia. He slowed a bit, passing the sign which read 'Natsu & Happy' as his eyes registered the stone cottage. Natsu was leaning over by the front door, panting.

"Looks like... I... win." He boasted. Sting approached him and hit the back of his head playfully, as he too was trying to catch his breath.

"Just get inside already!"

_Oh god, it's gonna be a huge mess! _Natsu reluctantly opened the wooden door. It made a loud creaking noise before he slowly poked his head in. To his surprise however, the house was sparkling clean with all of his wares neatly arranged. _What? This isn't how I left it. _He then noticed the slip of paper that was on the rug. It read: 'Hi Natsu, we heard you were returning so we cleaned up a bit here – the guild.' Natsu tossed the note aside. _Guess I'll have to thank those guys later _he thought as he pulled on Sting's arm and brought him further into his house, settling by the lounge area.

"I never knew you'd be this eager." Sting smirked as he pushed Natsu onto the couch, straddling him. Natsu gently placed his hand behind Sting's head, sifting his fingers through the blonde spikes to bring their faces closer and began eagerly kissed him. After a while of making out, the blonde then removed himself from the kiss as he began undoing the other's one sleeved vest. Natsu gasped when the cool air hit him, and it was enough for Sting to go further; their tongues now exploring each others' mouths longingly. When the need for air became apparent, Sting pulled back again; breathing heavily and leaving a disappointed looking Natsu before he trailed gentle kisses down his neck and exposed chest. The pink haired Dragon Slayer arched his back as he felt the blonde go lower. Sting smiled as he looked up at the destructive fire mage who only acted this submissive towards him.

Suddenly though, Natsu pushed his hands against Sting's chest. He frowned at the other's actions but Natsu spoke, "I think we should go to the bedroom." His features set in an anxious expression of impatience. He wriggled out from under Sting and scurried off through a side door. Sting huffed and followed, _why am I always chasing this idiot __around everywhere__?_

* * *

**M**e_a_**n**w_h_**i**l_e_

Mirajane wiped her feet on the doormat as she returned to her house. She closed the door gently behind her and hung her coat on the rack.

"Tadaima!(I'm back)" She called out. No response. She tried again. "Lisanna?" Again no response. She knew that Elfman was away on a request but she had seen her sister leave the guild just over an hour ago and it was unlikely that she would be asleep yet. She started to feel slightly concerned. She slowly walked towards the only lit room in the house, the kitchen.

Mirajane breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the youngest takeover sibling filling a glass at the sink; the water overflowing and spilling over the girl's hand. The girl then turned around to face her older sister.

"Oh hi Mira-nee. Sorry for not responding, I must have had you worried for a minute."

Mirajane beamed at her, "No, no that would just be stupid of me!" Lisanna laughed at her sister's response as she held out her arms for a hug. The two embraced and after a while Mirajane finally suggested, "Let's get some sleep, right?"

* * *

**T**h_e _**N**e_x_**t **M_o_**r**n_i_**n**g

Sting slowly started to stir as he felt an amazing warmth which could only belong to the fire Dragon Slayer. He subconsciously snuggled closer to the source of the heat and when his eyes opened he was satisfied with the sight of his lover. He sat up slowly to avoid waking the sleeping man and began brushing the pink locks off of his face. Natsu lazily opened his eyes as he awoke from his slumber, grumbling something under his breath.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to wake you, it's just you look so adorable when you're asleep that I can't resist." Sting apologized.

"Hey! Don't call me adorable!" Natsu retorted.

"Oh but you are _Natsu-kun._" Sting drew out the last part in a teasing manner.

"If that's all you have to say then I'm heading to the guild for some breakfast." Natsu huffed in mock retaliation. He then tried to get up but was swiftly pulled back to the bed by a strong arm around his waist. Sting forced Natsu's back against his chest and rested his chin on the other's shoulder.

"Do you understand that you're mine Natsu?" Sting whispered menacingly, breathing on Natsu's neck causing him to shiver.

Natsu then turned to face him, looking somewhat thrown by Sting's possessiveness. "Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" When the blonde didn't respond, Natsu just decided to answer. "Okay, but you too understand. And don't say anything you don't mean."

Sting smiled gratefully at those words, "That's all I wanted to hear... and... I want you to know I mean every word I say." He then let Natsu go and stood up. "Alright, let's get dressed and head out."

* * *

**A**t _F_**a**i_r_**y **T_a_**i**l

After enjoying a full fried breakfast, the two Dragon Slayers walked upstairs to Makarov's office where they awaited Mirajane. Sting and Natsu sat at the desk facing the master, listening to the constant rhythm of a clock ticking. No word was spoken as she joined the group, choosing to stand at the side of the desk.

"So are you gonna tell me what the hell this is about?" Sting asked impatiently.

"As I'm sure you've already guessed. It's about Bindweed. The news we are receiving is troubling to say the least." Makarov spoke authoritatively. "The council has upgraded its threat listing to level one."

Sting gasped, "What? That's the same level as a dark guild! It's just a corporation right?!"

"Unfortunately they won't tell us any more. All I know is that they are on the move. In fact the only reason I am aware of this information is because it was leaked to me by a certain member. The council don't want to get the guilds involved; they claim that the situation will just escalate."

A fist pounded hard on the desk. "But those council morons never do anything! It was us who stopped Eisenwald, Nirvana, Grimoire Heart, Eclipse; they almost killed us in the Tower of Heaven!" Natsu was seething. Sting was very interested to hear more about some of the incidents that Natsu had spoken of but that would have to wait for later. Mirajane put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down a bit.

"You're exactly right, Natsu. The council are naïve fools. They simply do not have enough power to deal with these situations without resorting to drastic measures. That is why we shall take it upon ourselves to investigate. For now it's best you keep this to yourselves. I'll inform you of any new developments. Sting you should probably head back to your guild, you may want to tell someone you trust about this but avoid communication lacrima."

"I understand. But if it's all right with you, I'd like to rest here for at least another day." He smiled and shared eye contact with Natsu.

"Of course, that's fine. Our doors are open to everyone. Stay safe." With that, Natsu, Sting and Mirajane left the office in silence.

"Oh hi Lisanna." Natsu was walking downstairs and spotted the white haired girl sitting on the bottom step. She looked a little flustered as he greeted her. "Asides from last night I haven't seen you in ages!" He continued.

"Oh...ermm, yeah..." She mumbled but was cut off by Sting who held out his hand for her.

"Hey, Lisanna I guess I've never really introduced myself properly to you. I know that you and Natsu are like childhood best friends or something." Mirajane carried on past the trio, regarding the scene with interest.

Lisanna eventually shook his hand and pulled herself up as well. "Aaah, pleased to meet you. Take good care of Natsu for me!" She winked at him but some members of the guild noticed a suppressed frown and even a look of slight worry in her eyes.

Natsu suddenly appeared ecstatic as an idea entered his head, "Why don't we go fishing by the lake, just us three plus Happy and Lector!" He suggested.

Lisanna barely concealed the shock on her face. "No... that's okay. I've, I... ermm I have important things to be doing." She all but ran straight out of the guild doors, looking very uneasy.

This left Natsu feeling very dejected while Sting and Mirajane both looked puzzled.

"Well that wasn't weird at all." the blonde Dragon Slayer said, his voice dripping with sarcasm

"Yeah..." Mirajane finally spoke.

Natsu was now feeling a little bit sad so Sting decided to cheer him up a bit. "Hey Natsu, we can still go fishing. I bet I'm going to catch a much bigger fish than you."

The pink haired Dragon Slayer raised his head and grinned widely, "You're on. I'm all fired up!"

On the other side of the guildhall, Happy's ears perked up at the mention of fish. He turned to the brown exceed who was hovering next to him. "Hey Lector, I bet Natsu's gonna catch way more fish than Sting!" He teased but the other exceed did not appear provoked.

"No way is Sting-kun going to lose at fishing!" He proudly declared. The two exceeds flew over to join their companions and the four left the guild laughing merrily and trying to forget the two concerning events that preceded.

As they left, Mirajane decided to return to her bar duties. Cana was sitting at the bar drinking a mug of beer for her breakfast and Mirajane decided to tap her on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Have you any idea what got into Lisanna just then?" Everyone in the guild was wondering the same thing.

Cana merely shrugged, "Maybe she's just jealous. I heard she had a massive crush on that idiot." _This suggestion seems plausible, _Mirajane considered before her thoughts were interrupted.

"No that can't be it, she was totally flirting with Rogue back at that party." Lucy who had previously been typing away on her Lacrima Mini Archive closed the pink device to participate in the gossip.

Levy set aside her Lacrima Tab as she too joined in. "Yeah and I even saw them making out afterwards!" She giggled.

"Well then this just makes the situation even more curious." Mirajane hummed.

* * *

**A**t _t_**h**e _L_**a**k_e_

The two Dragon Slayers were leaning against a large oak tree, taking in the Autumn colours and the sight of the calming icy blue waters of the lake. Happy and Lector had dozed off by a dying campfire. It had been a few hours since the grim warning from Makarov as well as the awkward incident with Lisanna and since they were here, the small group had cooked up the fish that they had caught. Natsu had really been enjoying himself but the concern was still evident.

Said Dragon Slayer pushed against the tree and crouched over the fire, topping it up with his own flames as he knew that the others present couldn't fight off the oncoming Winter chill like he could. Sting also got up and patted Natsu's shoulder reassuringly.

"You're still anxious about what happened before aren't you?"

Natsu sighed, "Yeah, I've never seen Lisanna act like that around me, or around anyone if I think about it. She's always pretty confident and cheerful."

"What are you going to do?"

"Hmmm, I think I'll give her time, I'm sure Mira-chan will be able to get something out of her anyway." He paused, deep in thought before he continued, "I've actually never been in a situation like this before. I mean, awkward girl situation that is."

"So... this is the first relationship you've been in?" Sting chuckled before his brow furrowed, "unless... unless you've been with another guy? Oh no, please tell me you and that ice stripper didn't..." He was cut off by Natsu rolling on the floor laughing.

He eventually regained control of himself. "What? How could you possibly think that? Damn, my ribs hurt." He then ruffled Sting's hair playfully, "No, you're the first." He assured.

"Good, because I hate the thought of other people touching you."

* * *

**T**h_e _**N**e_x_**t **M_o_**r**n_i_**n**g

Sting and Natsu, along with their exceeds arrived early at the guild. Sting had grumbled and protested a bit but Natsu had insisted that since Sting wouldn't be staying for much longer that the two should take a job together.

When Natsu walked to the back of the hall he was surprised to see Macao behind the counter.

"Morning, Macao, you're here early?"

"Yeah, I just got back."

"Have you seen Mira-chan, she's usually here at the crack of dawn."

"No, she hasn't turned up yet."

"Lisanna too?"

Macao raised an eyebrow quizzically, "No, and before you ask Elfman hasn't returned either."

Natsu then turned back to the entrance. "Right I'm going to go look for her." Macao just shrugged and looked indifferent.

Sting hurried after him. "Hey, wait for me!" The two burst out of the doors and into the slowly awakening town. Their hurried footsteps on the cobbled road causing loud echoes which disrupted the tranquillity.

"What's even the big deal?" Sting panted.

Natsu slowed for a while to respond. "Mira-chan is one of the most reliable people you'll find. Something about her not turning up when she usually does just doesn't sit right and besides that, I've been feeling really concerned since yesterday. About everything." Sting simply nodded in response.

"Okay, if it makes you feel better I'll help, but I'm sure it's nothing."

Happy was next to his companion with his aera magic active. "Natsu, I'll help you, I can search from above."

"I too will help." said Lector as the two cats ascended.

Natsu led Sting at a brisk pace in the direction of the Strauss household.

Suddenly Happy's cry reached the Dragon Slayers' ears. Natsu's heart rate quickened as a million different scenarios crossed his mind. However, nothing would prepare him for what he was about to see.

He honed in on the source of Happy's shout as the exceed came swooping down towards him. He heard the faint sound of muffled whimpering coming from a side street. He froze. _What the hell?_

.

.

.

Mirajane was being pressed up against the wall, relentlessly struggling as she tried to cry out for help but was unable to do so due to the hands around her neck. Hands that belonged to none other than Lisanna.

_Again. What. The. Hell? _Natsu thought.

"WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING, LISANNA?!" He screamed.

She turned to him with an icy glare, her hands unmoving.

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-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _1-

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-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

…

* * *

**Well, here it is the first chapter. I hope you liked it, please review, it will encourage me to write more. Constructive criticism is appreciated and tell me what you think of the plot so far. Also, I apologise for it being a short first chapter but I just couldn't resist that cliffhanger, or think of a better place to end it. So, in return I will try and update within a week. A cover image is also coming soon.**

**This chapter has been revised.**

**Until then, QuatroPuppy out.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Noise

**P**r_e_**v**i_o_**u**s_l_**y**

Mirajane was being pressed up against the wall, relentlessly struggling as she tried to cry out for help but was unable to do so due to the hands around her neck. Hands that belonged to none other than Lisanna.

_Again. What. The. Hell? _Natsu thought.

"WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING, LISANNA?!" He screamed.

She turned to him with an icy glare, her hands unmoving.

* * *

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-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **2-

…

-**N**o_i_**s**e-

...

* * *

**C**u_r_**r**e_n_**t**l_y_

Natsu trembled under the glare. He was never one to fear his opponents, no matter how much more powerful they were than him; but something about seeing one of his closest friends ruthlessly attacking her own sister really struck a nerve deep within the Dragon Slayer. For the moment he just stood there, unable to take action.

Sting didn't know much about the two takeover siblings but he could see that someone needed to take action and it sure as hell wasn't going to come from Natsu. He looked so uncharacteristically uncertain, and was rooted to the spot.

The white Dragon Slayer advanced on Lisanna, kicking her in the side. The force of the blow sent her crashing into the alley wall and she lost her grip on Mirajane, who slumped onto the floor, coughing and spluttering.

Sting wanted to say something, demand answers but Lisanna beat him to it, "This isn't what it looks like, she's not herself she's..." Sting stopped listening to her excuses and took in a deep breath. The realisation suddenly hit him.

"Shut it you damn fake!" Lisanna looked shocked as Sting continued, "Now I know why you didn't want to be alone with me and Natsu yesterday." She gulped. "You smell like that guy from back then... Lokar Bindweed."

As the accusation sunk in, Lisanna smirked menacingly while Natsu was finally snapped out of his stupor. She quickly transformed into he Animal Soul: Cat and attempted to lunge at Sting but before she could he was in her face and delivered a light charged punch, knocking her over. While she was still on the floor, Sting readied his next attack.

"White Dragon's Claw!" The sphere of light in Sting's palm successfully connected with Lisanna's stomach as the holy stigma was formed. Lisanna was now unable to move her body however her smirk was unwavering.

"You better tell me what the hell's going on _'Lisanna''."_ Sting interrogated the semi-paralysed girl who wasn't intimidated at all.

"You're too late." She said.

"What do you mean?" Sting growled, Natsu stood behind him glaring at the fake Lisanna while Happy and Lector were looking after Mirajane who was still on the ground.

"Information has already been uploaded. Warning for: Makarov Dreyar, Mirajane Strauss, Natsu Dragneel, Sting Eucliffe, possibly more. Now returning." As she said this, a deafening screeching sound erupted from seemingly nowhere. 'Lisanna' began to shimmer and her image began to ripple. The force of this sound pushed Natsu and Sting onto their knees, the only thing they could do was to cover their ears.

Mirajane, who had been too stunned to pay attention to the fight, now raised her head to see 'Lisanna' began to fade into glowing light. Panic corrupted her thought process as memories of sitting over Lisanna's injured body awoke. Her fear overrode logic as she screamed out her sister's name.

"Lisanna!" It could even be heard over the constant screeching noise.

Lisanna was fading, again. It was too much for Mirajane to take, as she broke down in sobs. All at once, the noise stopped when 'Lisanna's' form diffused into hundreds of spiralling golden runes which ascended into the air where they disappeared.

Not a sound could be heard after that. Rubble, paper and trash which had been floating in the air due to massive energy suddenly came crashing and fluttering down, as if signalling the start of the oncoming chaos.

Sting seemed to be rolling on the floor as if trying to get the reverberating whining out of his head. Natsu felt it too but he got up, ignoring a pulsating headache. He stumbled towards Mirajane who had a distant look in her eyes.

"Lisanna's gone..." She whispered with a voice full of despair.

Natsu glared at her, planted his hands on her shoulders and started to shake her. "Lisanna is not gone! That was not Lisanna." He ceased shaking her. "That was a fake. Mirajane, we have to find Lisanna!"

Mirajane finally recovered from her panic attack as her expression became slightly less anxious and she gained a look of determination in her eyes. "You're right, Natsu. It was just seeing her disappear before me again like that time..." She trailed off.

"It's okay now." He reassured before he walked over to his lover and hoisted him up until he could stand.

"Aaaah, my ears!" He complained. During this time the two exceeds had come swooping in, since they'd flew away to escape the noise.

"Natsu, is Lisanna going to be all right?" Happy asked solemnly.

"Yes, Happy we're going to find her no matter what."

* * *

**E**l_s_**e**w_h_**e**r_e_

She was in a room deep inside the black castle. She sat slumped in the corner, gigantic walls of machines towered above her, lights blinking and components whirring. _It really is beautiful_ she thought. The servers emitted a constant low hum and speakers crackled with static. _I wish I could enjoy it more but I've got work to do._ She stood up and ran to a door with an ascending spiral staircase.

Soon, the teenage girl emerged at the top of the tower. She walked towards a perch overlooking the city. Her city, that her father had given her, Black Lotus. It could best be described as a confused forest of dark Gothic spires and tall chimneys spewing thick grey smoke. At the straight edged borders of the city, yellow grassy plains extended as far as the eye could see.

A shady middle aged man walked up behind the girl, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Emery, my daughter." He greeted, showing no emotion on his face.

"So you're back." She smiled.

"Is it time?" He asked.

"Yes Father. Rest assured, I will complete your dying wish."

The girl, Emery was fairly short and had dark brown, shoulder length hair. Her attire could best be described as well... pyjamas. Asides from that, she wore rectangular glasses over her grey-blue eyes. The man, Lokar Bindweed was tall and slim. He wore a navy blue business suit and had bright auburn hair but it was balding, showing that he was middle aged. He had beady brown eyes.

A lacrima device that was in Emery's pocket started flashing red. "Looks like the data upload is complete." She said as she took the device out of her pocket. "However, the transfer was inefficient. Attention has been drawn. It's time to initiate plan B." She let the device hover in the air as it projected a golden keyboard in front of her. She started typing.

"The trap, huh?"

"Yes it seems that currently, two Fairy Tail members and the Sabertooth guildmaster were given a warning during a meeting. They must be eradicated. As for Makarov, well that's going to be difficult but I'll get to the engineering team working on a solution."

"But what if they've already informed other members of the council's suspicion? Isn't there a diplomatic way to destroy Fairy Tail?"

"That's a no. Even if their guild is legally disbanded they will continue to fight. That is their nature. And besides, they have allied guilds, we can't destroy them all."

"I see... this is going to be more difficult then you originally thought."

The teenager scowled at him. "We are Fiore's greatest corporation. Our power is limitless!" She stopped scowling at him before she gave him a sidekick to the chest. When the attack connected, a shockwave was let out, causing Lokar to smash through the tower wall. "Just return already!" She snarled, waving her hand dismissively.

The panicking man hovered in the air above the city for a moment. However, before he could fall, his body diffused into runes and he vanished.

* * *

**M**a_g_**n**o_l_**i**a

By now, many rudely awakened residents had gathered nearby the alleyway to see what the commotion was from a minute ago. Whispers and gossip circulated the group.

"Hey isn't that Sabertooth's Sting Eucliffe?"

"Yeah? Did he attack a member of Fairy Tail?"

"That can't be it. His boyfriend, the salamander is there, look."

"But over there, that's the demon, Mirajane. Maybe this is a lovers' quarrel."

"Yeah and she's been crying, do you think there was a love triangle?"

One figure pushed his way through the gossiping crowd. Gray Fullbuster stood at the corner of the side street, trying to make sense of the scene before him. Two of his guildmates and Sting appeared to be in a pained state while Mirajane also had tear stained eyes.

Natsu decided that he should go and scare the crowd off but before he could, Gray had already read the situation and began to threaten the onlookers. As the last citizen left, Natsu decided to confront his rival.

"Gray, how much did you see?"

"Not much, flamebrain. I just came when I heard that awful noise. You've got a lot of talking to do."

Natsu rubbed his neck as his pounding headache finally ceased so he decided to lead Gray to where Sting was now sat next to Mirajane against the wall. After Natsu and Sting explained the event which had just transpired as well as the meeting with Makarov, Gray's eyes were full of worry.

"We have to find Lisanna." He gulped.

"I know. That's what we were going to do before you showed up. Only problem is how."

"You could track her scent. I don't know her well enough." Sting spoke up.

"We're in the middle of a town, there's too many scents mingling." His voice was full of sadness at not being able to help.

"Use Equilibrium." The blonde stated.

Natsu suddenly smiled. "Equilibrium?" Gray and Mirajane enquired in unison.

Natsu grinned confidently. "Let me show you." His face suddenly dropped, "Erm, I need chalk."

A bright light appeared in Gray's palm before it receded, revealing a piece of chalk in its place.

"You can requip?" Natsu took the piece of chalk and began drawing a circular seal on the stone floor.

"Yeah, Erza taught me the basics while you were away, why? Jealous much?" Gray teased as his rival completed the seal.

Natsu continued grinning. "_You_ will be when you see this." He then stood on top of the seal and began building up his magic. A glowing blue energy formed a small whirlwind around the Dragon Slayer before he chanted, "Equilibrium: Hone Senses!" The whirlwind died down while Natsu's eyes began glowing blue and he gained an intense look of concentration on his face.

He breathed in deep several times and started sniffing the air before abruptly stopping. "I've got it! She's in the forest due East. Follow me." He ordered and took off. Gray shrugged and followed, along with Sting, Mirajane, Happy and Lector.

* * *

**E**a_s_**t **F_o_**r**e_s_**t**

Many thoughts, worries and possibilities circulated Mirajane's mind as she sprinted through the forest, the now risen sun flashing in her eyes through the gaps created by the branches. She pushed these thoughts away for now since there was no point in dwelling on them. She looked ahead at Natsu who was leading the search party, if he could be confident then so could she.

Natsu skidded to a halt, disrupting a pile of leaves and motioned for the others to come closer. Gray and Sting joined him by the side and Mirajane caught up to the others.

"Why'd you stop, Natsu?" Happy questioned. He pointed ahead in response before putting his hands behind his head and taking a deep breath. Mirajane followed his gesture to look upon a tiny, dilapidated cabin in a clearing.

"What's the plan?" asked Gray.

"What plan?" Gray facepalmed at this.

"I don't see why we need a plan, we have overwhelming force on our side." Sting agreed with his lover unsurprisingly.

"Alright fine but I'ma keep watch outside with the cats while you three go inside."

So, the two Dragon Slayers and the takeover mage crept up to the tiny cabin's door. They stopped when someone stepped on a twig, causing a loud snapping noise. Natsu breathed out frost, blinked, and then violently kicked down the door. The flimsy thing split pathetically from its hinges.

"Lisanna!" Mirajane spotted Lisanna's unmoving body tied up in the corner of the cabin and fell to her knees next to her, the two Dragon Slayers doing the same.

Slowly, the girl opened her eyes, looking very groggy. "Mira-nee..." she barely managed to say but it was enough for relief to flood through the older sister's veins.

Natsu got to work untangling the chains which bound her, _why chains? _He wondered. "We should take her outside." Mirajane and Sting agreed as they respectively lifted her up by her arms and legs, taking her into the clearing outside and setting her on the leafy floor. Gray relaxed upon seeing her alive albeit not particularly well.

As the bright, morning sunlight hit her, Lisanna finally roused and sat up.

"Lisanna, what happened?" Mirajane asked.

Lisanna turned her eyes to the ground and breathed heavily. "The night that Natsu came back. I was walking home when they got me, I tried to fight them but they must have drugged me."

"Who's they?"

"I-I don't know. I woke up at one point. There were three of them. Two men and one woman but I didn't catch their faces before they drugged me again."

"Lisanna, I failed you, what kind of sister am I if I didn't even know that you'd been replaced by a fake?" Mirajane cried.

"I was replaced by a fake?!" Lisanna was furious. "Never mind that anyway, all I remember from when I was awake that short amount of time was that you would come, you would find me." Lisanna put her sister at ease.

"Something isn't right here." Gray interrupted the reunion. Natsu and Mirajane turned to him in confusion but Sting agreed.

"He's right. They just leave her in an easy to find place, not far from Magnolia, no magic dampening and..." He was cut off by the wretched screeching noise from before although it was admittedly less excruciating this time. Still, it was enough to temporarily disable the group of mages.

Three figures emerged from the woods and walked into the clearing. One of them raised their foot high in the air before slamming it down. "Kick of Fortune!" He screamed and the ground crumbled away, revealing an abyss which the mages fell into before Happy or Lector could help out.

It was too dark to make out anything at first. However, what the group did see was very shocking. The dark void was filled with towering archive servers which hummed and whirred happily.

The three attackers then jumped into the server vault to face off the group. "Well, well, looks like we got ourselves some fairy trash to deal with." The female figure taunted.

* * *

…

-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _**2**-

…

-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

…

* * *

**Okay so when I said that I would update within the week, I honestly did not expect to be that fast. Hopefully though this cliffhanger isn't as bad as the last one but still cliffhangery enough. Unfortunately though I still have no cover image. The next chapter will show the fight, and sorry for not having any Sting x Natsu moments in this chapter.**

**Until then, as always please review – QuatroPuppy**


	3. Chapter 3 - Luck, Chains and Swords

**P**r_e_**v**i_o_**u**s_l_**y**

"He's right. They just leave her in an easy to find place, not far from Magnolia, no magic dampening and..." He was cut off by the wretched screeching noise from before although it was admittedly less excruciating this time. Still, it was enough to temporarily disable the group of mages.

Three figures emerged from the woods and walked into the clearing. One of them raised their foot high in the air before slamming it down. "Kick of Fortune!" He screamed and the ground crumbled away, revealing an abyss which the mages fell into before Happy or Lector could help out.

It was too dark to make out anything at first. However, what the group did see was very shocking. The dark void was filled with towering archive servers which hummed and whirred happily.

The three attackers then jumped into the server vault to face off the group. "Well, well looks like we got ourselves some fairy trash to deal with." The female figure taunted.

* * *

…

-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **3-

…

-**L**u_c_**k**, C_h_**a**i_n_**s **a_n_**d **S_w_**o**r_d_**s**_-_

…

* * *

**C**u_r_**r**e_n_**t**l_y_

"Who the hell are you guys?" Natsu shouted as the dust settled.

"I don't believe that matters." The woman who had spoke before replied. She had long wavy black hair. She was tall and most interestingly was donned head to foot in chain-mail armour, minus the helmet. Her face bore no emotion.

"Really?" Natsu cracked his knuckles and spoke with conviction. "Because when it involves messing with my friends' lives it means you're in for a world of hurt." He stepped slowly towards her with a burning scowl but before he could go further Mirajane placed her arm in front of him, halting his advance.

"I will handle her by myself Natsu. She hurt my sister, this is my responsibility." Natsu gave her a pleading look and attempted to protest but was silenced with a demonic glare.

"Fine... but Happy, you go tell Jii-chan okay?"

"Aye sir!" Happy saluted and escaped the vault with Lector in tow.

"Are you sure about this Mira?" Gray asked. Mirajane didn't respond and instead transformed into her Takeover: Satan Soul. Just looking at her new form would be enough to make most opponents stand down although the black haired woman remained calm and collective.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" She spoke with a stoic voice, similar to Erza's, "Johann, deal with her." She ordered.

Her short male companion stood forth. He had red-brown hair and small brown eyes. The guy currently had a stupid grin plastered on his face. He stomped down hard on the floor, "Giant's Raging Stomp!" As he did this, the ground below his feet trembled and created a crack which headed in Mirajane's direction. The demon simply jumped out of its path.

Johann then spoke, "My magic allows me to endow my physical attacks with luck giving me many fortuitous results." He followed up by charging at Mirajane with a punch. Mirajane casually raised her fist to meet his and a gust of wind was produced by the collision. Johann's eyes widened in shock before Mirajane swatted him to the floor with her tail.

"You should think twice before testing your luck against a demon." She kicked him in the ribs, sending him flying into a server with a crunch of twisted metal. It was safe to say he would not be getting back up. Mirajane raised an eyebrow at the woman who only seemed a little annoyed at the boy's swift defeat.

"Fine, be that as it may... Mikhail, get her!" She motioned for her other male companion. This guy was taller than Johann and had the same hair colour as the woman but he wore it tied in a pony tail. He was dressed in slate grey wizard's robes with high leather boots.

Mirajane paused while observing the new mage, noticing his battle stance and determination. "I can tell he's stronger than the other guy. Natsu I'll leave him to you. I don't want to waste my magical power; the chain-mail bitch is mine."

Natsu was now very excited by the prospect of getting to fight a strong mage; he held up a fist, "I'm all fired up. You better not disappoint me." He challenged.

"That I won't." Mikhail also appeared to be anticipating the fight. He brought his right hand behind his back and built up a dark blue magical aura as a silver seal appeared beneath his feet. Natsu regarded the other's actions before he ignited his arms and feet and gestured for Mikhail to begin.

"Have it your way." Silver chains sprouted from both of Mikhail's hands and in the blink of an eye, the chains were in front of Natsu, who barely managed to dodge by rolling to the left. However just as he got to his feet, the chains twisted in the air, letting out a whistling noise as they turned back on the Dragon Slayer. Three chains hit Natsu in the back with surprising force while two more wrapped around his arms. Now that his opponent was connected, Mikhail tugged on the chains; bringing the fire mage to the floor.

Mikhail then dissipated the chains before addressing Natsu, "I hope you enjoyed your taste of my Artificial Magic: Silver Chain Magic. Do you want to fight me at full strength now, Salamander?" Natsu accepted the challenge as he slipped into fire drive mode.

"It's over now." Natsu stated. He was now enveloped by a red glow. Every now and again the glow would flicker yellow, signifying Natsu's lightning magic which he chose to hide for now.

"Tsk, that's some impressive support magic. However: Iram Columns!" Four gigantic marble columns shot out of the ground, one on each side of Natsu. Natsu tried to step out of the set up but a chain shot from one of the columns with a taunting jingle. Suddenly, several chains materialised at the base of the structure, attempting to trap Natsu's ankles but his fire drive enhanced speed allowed him to easily dodge. By now, the columns were rapidly spawning more and more chains while the fire mage dodged each and every one in some kind of weird dance with which the eye could not keep up. _Since when was Natsu this fast?_ Gray thought. Natsu ascended higher into the air in an attempt to escape the chains.

Finally he emerged at the top of the structure and smirked.

"Ha! You fell for it. Chain Energy Beacon!" Mikhail bellowed. The Dragon Slayer panicked when he saw the web of chains below him begin to spark and crackle. Lisanna knew it was too late for Natsu to dodge as she watched her friend get caught up in a colossal upwards beam of energy.

"Natsu!" Gray shouted and made to attack Mikhail. He was abruptly halted when Sting yanked him back by his shirt collar.

"Don't worry he'll be fine." Gray swivelled to look at him in anger but he was taken aback by Sting's relaxed demeanour and wry smile.

While this was going on the beam of energy eventually died down and the columns dissolved, leaving a large pile of dust. Natsu was nowhere to be seen. "Hahaha!" Mikhail cackled, "Totally obliterated! The true nature of the columns is to focus the energy stored in my silver chains and you fell for..." He was cut off when Natsu flashed in front of him with unseen speed; his expression dead set on the destruction of his opponent.

"My flame form* can protect me from all external damage for several seconds." Natsu explained, "and now I'll finish this in one shot. Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer!" He threw the attack at Mikhail who couldn't even comprehend the incoming attack as he was simultaneously burned and shocked. The full force of the blow left him unable to move and he slumped onto the floor in defeat.

"That was amazing Natsu!" Lisanna cheered while Sting ran over to kiss his boyfriend. Natsu accepted the kiss and returned it with passion before he pulled away and walked triumphantly over to Mikhail's defeated figure. Just then, the chain mage opened his eyes and quickly winked in Natsu's direction. _Wait, did Mikhail just wink at me? What the hell is that supposed to mean? _Natsu was now troubled as to what the gesture meant.

"Ahem! Save your victory for later. I'm still standing." The chain-mail clad woman interrupted the group, her voice now slightly quivering. _That __tenacity__ isn't __going to __guarantee your victory__, woman. __You're completely outnumbered, _Mirajane thought.

"You will fall by my sword." The black haired woman continued before she summoned a sword in her right hand. "I will at least tell you my name before you die. I am Josie, this is my sword – Dawnfang." She then held up the sword.

Now, Mirajane had seen some weird looking weapons in her time but this thing was in a league of its own. It was rather a large sword to hold in one hand and it had bronze hilt with an orange pommel stone and gem. Where the handle met the blade it was graced with two dragons facing out on each side. The blade itself is what made it so interesting since it was split in two along the middle and almost joined at the end where its shape resembled that of a set of sharp teeth biting down.

Josie waved Dawnfang backwards in an arc before quickly thrusting it forwards. As she did so, the orange gem began to glow and a trail of fire crept out from the split in the sword. It reached the 'teeth' as Josie finished the thrust and a torrent of flames emerged.

"Red River!"

Before the billowing stream of fire could touch Mirajane, it was slurped up by Natsu who wiped imaginary food off his mouth afterwards. Mirajane smiled menacingly at Josie since any fire attack made would simply be eaten by her friend.

"What?" Josie spluttered, "In that case..." The sword then began to shimmer with blue light which receded to reveal a slightly different sword. "Duskfang!" She finished. This sword looked the same as Dawnfang but had a purple pommel and blue gem.

The demon dashed at the swordswoman ready for a hand to hand fight but instead Josie slashed at the air. A disk shaped wave of ice was sent from the slash and Mirajane was forced back as she was hit.

"Argh." She screamed, wincing when she noticed the gash on her shoulder. Fortunately, her Satan Soul prevented any serious damage that would normally be incurred from such an attack. _Looks like I'm going to have to use ranged spells, _she decided.

"Demon Blast!" Mirajane fired the ball of energy at Josie but it was blocked when the woman brought her sword down to call forth a shield of ice.

_I need to up the power. _The demon then retreated into the air to distance herself from her target. "Evil Explosion!" Mirajane hurled the sphere of chaotic darkness at the swordswoman but again, it was useless. Before the energy collided, Josie utilised a rapid succession of slashes which enclosed her in a thick wall of ice on all sides.

"Grand Arctic Defence!" After the explosion died down, Josie emerged unscathed and smug. This was short lived. She turned around upon realising her mistake but it was too late to defend against the attack. The demon wasted no time with her next move.

"Evil Push!" The chain-mail clad woman was blasted back and had no time for recovery before the demon committed to a barrage of devastating punches. Despite her current predicament, Josie stabbed her sword in to the ground. As she did so, several thick pillars of ice shot out of the floors and walls and smashed into Mirajane. She screamed out in agony for the second time as the blunt attack pounded her with a sickening crunch. She was now very angry.

As Mirajane recovered from the last attack she decided to utilise her most powerful attack. "Soul Extinction!" The whole server vault was briefly lit up by the stream of purple energy.

_Woah, there's no way she'd survive that attack _Sting thought as he watched on from behind an ice shield which Gray had made to protect himself and the others from collateral damage. It was the first time the white Dragon Slayer had seen Mirajane fight seriously, the first time being the ridiculous battle against Jenny Realight.

'It's over.' Is what Mirajane wanted to say however she was astonished when she noticed that Josie had slashed the attack in two and was now holding both Dawnfang and Duskfang. She was panting heavily from the exertion required to stop such an attack.

"Dawnfang and Duskfang are one and the same." She breathed, "I have satisfied their lust for battle and when I bring them together," she then touched the two blades together and the two merged; the metal turning black, "freezing fire!"

The superior sword ignited with an azure blaze and Josie spun it round, creating a gigantic whirlwind of frosty flames.

Mirajane was now rooted to the spot, unable to move as frost crept up her arms and legs. She shivered and covered herself with her arms, noticing her skin was turning pale blue. _I've gotta do something now! But I can't move in these weird blue flames, there's only one option left. _

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" She shouted as she transformed once again. What stood in her place now was a demon with a shaggy white mane and golden horns, wearing a white and blue suit with a black cape. "Satan Soul: Sitri!"

She strode calmly into the storm of blue fire, her feet merging with fire and leaving a trail of scorched ground. She instantly advanced on Josie, dispelling the freezing fire with her own searing hot flames. The swordswoman was now terrified by the demon advancing on her and the impending pain. She was too weak now to do anything.

Mirajane noticed the woman in a state of fear and decided to speak. "You're too afraid to even move, just surrender..." She was interrupted.

"You idiot, It's not you who I'm mostly afraid of, I'm afraid of..." her younger male companion who had finally recovered joined her by her side.

"She's going to punish us again isn't she." Johann whimpered. Mirajane was very confused by the latest development. _He's not talking about me, is he? _

Josie finally spoke. "Yes..." She whispered.

Everyone fell to their knees suddenly as they sensed the return of the soon to be infamous screeching noise.

"No, not again!" Shouted Gray. The noise was seriously agonizing and it would be enough to halt even the most powerful of wizards.

* * *

After a painstaking minute, the group of mages finally recovered and contemplated what the hell just happened. The first thing that was glaringly obvious was that Josie, Mikhail and Johann were nowhere to be seen. Sunlight now seeped through the massive crack in the ceiling and the chirping of birds could be heard from outside.

Gray caught a movement in the corner of his eye and heard a metallic clang. He moved in that direction to investigate and caught sight of the sword lying on the floor. It was Duskfang, identifiable by the blue gem. _What? Why would she leave behind such a powerful sword? _Gray wondered,_ hmm... I could really use this sword, I'll ask Erza about it later. _He then picked up the sword and tried to requip it but failed so he requipped a leather strap and attached the weapon to his back.

At this point, Natsu, Sting and Lisanna were helping out an unconscious Mirajane who had passed out from magic exhaustion. Gray decided to create a staircase of ice with which they could escape the now completely wrecked server vault.

"Let me take her." Gray offered and no one could see a reason why not so they complied. Gray took her in his arms bridal style and the group ascended the stairs to the awaiting clearing.

* * *

**E**a_s_**t **F_o_**r**e_s_**t**

Lisanna relaxed as she and the makeshift team walked along the leafy forest trail in the direction of Magnolia. Gray was still carrying Mirajane and Sting was walking by Natsu's side, their hands interlocked. Lisanna giggled at this.

Natsu blushed. "What's so funny?" He demanded.

"You two." She teased, "I sometimes wonder how you got together in the first place."

"Well, Sting brought me to Sabertooth and..."

"No, I mean how did you accept Sting so fast? No offence, I mean he's a guy."

"Why would it bother me that he's a guy?" Natsu asked in all sincerity.

"You can be so dense sometimes." She huffed, "It's just that if I'd known you were gay I wouldn't have teased you about being your wife all the time."

"Huh? That's not it, gender doesn't really matter to me I guess. I can just see an honest, kind hearted person and I saw it in Sting after he became guildmaster."

"Natsu..." At hearing Natsu's honest words Sting pulled him closer and smiled.

Lisanna, satisfied with Natsu's response now felt utterly content, especially with the whole kidnapping ordeal behind her. She noticed Mirajane snuggle a bit closer to Gray's now exposed chest. When he had lost his shirt, no one would ever know. Lisanna sometimes wondered how much money Gray spent replacing missing items of clothing.

"Mira-nee, how much longer do you plan on pretending to be unconscious for?" Lisanna asked.

Mirajane's eyes shot wide open. "Awww and here I was enjoying a free ride home." She whined, "then again I could enjoy it a bit longer."

"But..." Gray tried to protest but was shot an threatening look from the demon. "Fine." He sighed.

The group all laughed at Gray's situation as they headed back to the Guild.

* * *

…

-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _**3**-

…

-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

…

* * *

**Okay so that's the fight scene done with (I also tried to include some fluff at the end) I hope you enjoyed it. I now have a humour oneshot up called "An unexpected Fight" to make up for not being able to update for a while due to an art exam I will have shortly. **

***Flame form – something Natsu developed while training with Sting, inspired by the way Laxus can move in a lightning form. **

**Johann's magic is very loosely inspired by Jackpot Knuckle from Bleach.**

**Dawnfang/Duskfang is the most powerful sword in the game Oblivion. While it doesn't have any of the abilities that I wrote about, it does switch to Dawnfang (fire damage) in the morning and Duskfang (frost damage) in the evening. Also, if you reach 12 kills in a day it will become the superior version. Look it up if my description wasn't good enough.**

**Mikhail's abilities are my own idea and I plan to show more of them later in the story. **


	4. Chapter 4 - People Archive

**P**r_e_**v**i_o_**u**s_l_**y**

**Natsu, Sting, Gray and Mirajane just rescued Lisanna who had been kidnapped, drugged and replaced by a fake. Just after they did so, they were ambushed by three mysterious enemies – Josie, Mikhail and Johann – who were defeated by Mirajane and Natsu. Afterwards the enemies disappeared leaving behind a part of Josie's sword which Gray took. The group was last on their way back to Fairy Tail to talk to the master. **

* * *

...

-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **4-

…

-**P**e_o_**p**l_e _**A**r_c_**h**i_v_**e**_-_

…

* * *

**B**l_a_**c**k_ L_**o**t_u_**s**

Emery Bindweed was not happy. She stared down her three supposedly loyal servants and turned her back to them, running her hand along the long wooden dining table as she shuffled down the grand hall. Her slippers made a ridiculous scuffing sound against the cold stone floor making her seem innocent yet even more threatening.

"You have failed me!" She screamed, "I send you on a simple ambush mission and you all get defeated. I feel ashamed of _myself._"

Josie hung her head in shame. "They were too powerful, three of them didn't even fight us..."

Emery wasn't having any of this. She threw a silver platter off of the table in a brief spat of frustration, causing Johann to flinch back. "You don't get to talk! You dropped Duskfang and now they have their hands on it."

"But it was just an archive copy!" The swordswoman pleaded.

"So? How are you supposed to fight now?" She slammed her fist onto the abused dining table.

"Isn't it your fault for failing to upload both Duskfang and Dawnfang? I mean they were joined together at the time." Mikhail interjected without a hint of fear in his voice. The teenage girl's eye twitched and she paused, deciding on what to do next.

Mikhail, Josie and Johann were sent through the void and came crashing into the wall as Emery held held up an open palm that caused the air around it to pulsate in waves, letting out low humming noises. Each little wave pushed plates, platters and cutlery off of the once neatly spread table. She was taken completely by surprise to see Mikhail climbing to his shaking knees.

"You know you can't keep controlling me forever. Your system isn't perfect." He winced and fired off some chains at Emery to prove his point. She dodged them all easily and propelled herself into the air with the same pulsating energy around her feet.

"You're so pathetic." To follow up the insult she took out a mini lacrima device from her pocket and rapidly typed a command. After that she was alone in the dark, chaotic hall.

* * *

**F**a_i_**r**y _T_**a**i_l_

The group certainly did receive a few odd looks as they trudged into the now mostly full guildhall. At this point, a lot of gossip had circulated the town of Magnolia about the noise which woke everyone up, most of it ending up at Fairy Tail. The fact that Gray was carrying an exhausted looking Mirajane as well as the whole group looking a bit dirtied and beat up was enough for the members to each draw their own personal conclusions. Natsu decided to ignore the whispers emanating from the crowd and just walk straight to Makarov's office who should already be waiting thanks to Happy and Lector.

"You guys go ahead I've got to ask Erza about this sword." Gray placed Mirajane on her feet since she could definitely walk now.

"Actually I think Erza should know about this now." Makarov surprised everyone with his unannounced presence.

Natsu and Sting both felt an iron grip on their shoulders and turned their heads to see that Erza had been behind them for a while. "I should know about what?" She chimed in with a voice which promised pain if she did not receive a straightforward answer.

* * *

**L**a_t_**e**r

"Wait, so why did the fake Lisanna start attacking you in the first place?" The knight asked.

"Well, after the first meeting Master and I had with Sting and Natsu, when I left the office I saw Lisanna was sitting at the bottom of the stairs using a bat takeover probably so she could eavesdrop on us. Of course she changed immediately after she noticed me but when I confronted her about it the next day she just attacked me. Fortunately Sting and Natsu found me..."

Makarov sighed deeply and drummed his finger on the wooden desk. "Do we have any evidence that these guys are linked with Bindweed? I'd like you to describe the enemies you encountered."

Mirajane paused while recalling what they looked like. "Well, I can't really remember what they looked like, it was pretty dark in that vault. But, their names were Johann, Mikhail and Josie. Also..."

"Wait I think I know who those people are!" Makarov interrupted, "If I recall, those are the Bindweed siblings! But they're supposedly dead. Assassinated nine years ago... "

"What?" All present shouted. Master Makarov stood on his desk chair and leaned forward. He started scribbling away at what appeared to be a letter. The others sat at the desk began fidgeting as they were very anxious to hear what Makarov had to say next and why he was writing a letter. They stared at him but he just continued.

"Master?" Mirajane pressed.

"Oh, sorry. I believe I've figured it out." He dropped his pen, "Think about it. The fake Lisanna spoke about 'uploading' then when you were attacked you fell into an archive server vault. The Bindweed siblings are supposedly deceased and yet you saw them alive and well before they disappeared in the same manner as the fake Lisanna."

"I don't follow..." Gray said.

"Quiet brat!" Makarov scolded, "I believe that Bindweed now has the ability to upload and store people on the archive."

"But that's..." Sting trailed off.

"No way..." Erza covered her mouth with her hand in astonishment.

"What do you mean Jii-chan?" Natsu was unfazed by the revelation.

"What I mean is – well I don't know the details but they were able to recreate Lisanna and the dead Bindweed children. They have their hands on some kind of 'people archive' if I may call it that. Also since they gave you their names it means that Bindweed Corporation no longer cares that we know they're up to something. We do not want a repeat of the Lisanna incident so we must - "

"Destroy the rest of the server vaults around Magnolia." Erza finished his sentence.

"I agree. We won't be able to know if anyone else is a copy so we shouldn't consort with anyone else who isn't present here either." Sting reasoned.

"But how will we do it?" Natsu asked.

"Don't Dragon Slayers have extra sensitive hearing? Couldn't you find them using that magic you used earlier?" Gray suggested.

"No, even with equilibrium that would be impossible..." Sting replied defeatedly.

Natsu however did not look so defeated. "I know someone who could!"

Erza understood where the Dragon Slayer was going with this. "Master, we may need some help from Crime Sorciere and a certain someone within the council." _Yes, I might be able to see Jellal again! _Erza squealed internally. Makarov raised an eyebrow since he knew exactly the person that they were referring to.

"That's why I was writing a letter. Now everyone get out! I'll call you back when needed."

* * *

**B**l_a_**c**k_ L_**o**t_u_**s**, E_n_**g**i_n_**e**e_r_**i**n_g _**D**e_p_**a**r_t_**m**e_n_**t**

The Bindweed Department of Engineering was one of the biggest buildings in Black Lotus. It sat adjacent to the the towering Black Castle in the middle of the square shaped city. While the norm for this place was dark neo-gothic, the Department of Engineering was an unusually futuristic looking tower with sweeping curves and smooth glass windows. The building was connected to the Black Castle via an enormous bridge which is where Emery was talking to the chief engineer for the Bindweed Corporation.

"Morgan? You know how you're my best friend?" Emery slurred.

The other girl sighed. She was around the same height and age as Emery but whereas Emery had short brown hair, Morgan's was blonde, wavy and went down to her hips. It whipped around due to the high altitude wind. She was also dressed in a white lab coat rather than pyjamas. "What is it this time?" She huffed.

"I need a report on attack readiness."

"Oh well, I've been meaning to show you some of our latest developments." Morgan grinned sadistically.

"I know that look. It's gotta be something good." The two stopped where the bridge connected to the Department of Engineering and entered a circular glass elevator which lead them deep underground. When they emerged they were in a large, cavernous bunker filled with engineers milling about, working on various large scale projects.

Morgan lead Emery to a room to the side of the bunker in which tall, glass, liquid filled tanks held many different experimental specimens. The blonde pointed out to a specific tank in the centre of the room, earning her a favourable reaction from the brunette.

"I call this one 'Troll Candy'. It's part of a series I've been working on."

"I like it. How many can you produce by next week?"

"Oh... several hundred..."

"And on the mechanical side of things."

"That's all finished."

"Then next week we move on Fairy Tail." She began tucking in to a pack of ginger snaps, dropping crumbs all over the sparkling laboratory floor.

* * *

...

-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _**4**-

…

-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

...

* * *

**Yay for fast updates! But really I must stop for now, seriously I am too obsessive. I wonder who they could be talking about, who could possibly track things down by sound? Yeah that's actually pretty obvious. Anyway that was a pretty short chapter... You have Troll Candy to look forward to. Can anyone guess what kind of magic Emery uses?**

**As always reviews are very much appreciated. **

_**OC content so far:**_

_**Johann: youngest Bindweed child. Magic: Luck Magic**_

_**Mikhail: middle Bindweed child. Magic: Silver Chain Magic**_

_**Josie: oldest Bindweed child. Weapons: Dawnfang/Duskfang**_

_**Lokar Bindweed: CEO, server upload. Magic: None**_

_**Emery: mysterious fourth sibling. Magic: Unknown**_

_**Morgan: Chief Engineer of Bindweed Corporation. Magic: None**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Double Date

**P**r_e_**v**i_o_**u**s_l_**y**

"Destroy the rest of the server vaults around Magnolia."

"I agree. We won't be able to know if anyone else is a copy so we shouldn't consort with anyone else who isn't present here." Sting said.

"But how will we do it?" Natsu asked.

"Don't Dragon Slayers have extra sensitive hearing? Couldn't you find them using that magic you used earlier?" Gray suggested.

"No, even with equilibrium that would be impossible..." Sting replied defeatedly.

Natsu however did not look so defeated. "I know someone who could!"

Erza understood where the Dragon Slayer was going with this. "Master, we may need some help from Crime Sorciere." _Yes, I might be able to see Jellal again! _Erza squealed internally. Makarov raised an eyebrow since he knew exactly the person that they were referring to.

"That's why I was writing a letter. Now everyone get out! I'll call you back when needed."

* * *

...

-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **5-

…

-**D**o_u_**b**l_e _**D**a_t_**e**_-_

…

* * *

**E**r_a, _**M**a_g_**i**c _C_**o**u_n_**c**i_l_** H**o_l_**d**i_n_**g **F_a_**c**i_l_**i**t_y _

It was dark in the cell. Cobra - as a dark wizard who'd been in many unfavourable situations - never thought that something so menial could get to him. How he longed for a nice window with a view and maybe some fresh air. Down here the only thing he could hear was the thoughts of the guards and the other inmates and _o__h_ how it was hell when you had no choice but to listen to the mundane and often disgusting things that the bored guards thought about. At least they were better than the prisoners' though.

Today was different though. Cobra was excited for what felt like the first time since he'd stupidly volunteered to return to this hell hole. Why had he done that again? Oh yeah, to try and break out those weirdos who were supposedly his friends. Not like he'd ever tell them that they were, in fact, his friends.

But back to the point. The reason why Cobra was so excited today was that at the end of the corridor, the two guards' heartbeats had slowed considerably and he could no longer detect their thoughts. They had been put to sleep and the person who had done so was now walking towards his cell. He heard the footsteps; three pairs of feet heading his way. He heard the chink of a key being inserted into the lock followed by all the tiny clicks of the tumblers falling in place as the key was turned.

He finally decided to look up. Not that it mattered, he already knew who they were.

"Cobra. I assume that you already know what I'm about tell you." The blue haired man spoke.

"Go ahead anyway." The Dragon Slayer sighed.

"Your abilities are desperately needed so we're here to bust you out." The other man, who had black hair and a cross shaped scar on the left side of his face joined in.

"Never knew you would go _this_ far for that guild, Doranbalt." Cobra snickered.

"It's not just for them, I see myself one of very few within the council with the guts to do anything when trouble arises."

"Enough of that. What is your answer?" Jellal demanded.

"Yes! Just get me out of this windowless coffin!" With that, the pink haired girl who had not said a thing yet knelt by his side with a key chain in hand.

"Just one more thing," Meredy whispered, "where do you want it?" She hastily took out a magic guild mark stamp.

Cobra pushed her hand away. "Woah now. I never said anything about joining your pathetic little 'guild'." He sneered.

"You have no choice in the matter." Jellal took a step towards him, "If you do not repent of your sins then you will never have a chance at freedom ever again. You'll be stuck here for as long as the council don't give a shit about you."

Cobra stared discontentedly at the offensive stamp for a whole minute before his stubborn resolve finally caved in. "Alright fine I'll join your little party but you won't stop me from having a rematch with Salamander." Jellal smirked at this. "Oh - also, purple and forearm please." Meredy proceeded to stamp him before unlocking his magic sealing chains.

* * *

**M**a_g_**n**o_l_**i**a, _N_**e**x_t _**D**a_y_

Gray had begged Erza non stop until she finally decided to help him out with his new sword. In the end sheer curiosity had taken her.

"Put some clothes on first." Gray looked down in embarrassment to see that the only thing left was his boxers.

"Damn it when did this happen? I'll just be a minute." He dashed back into the warmth of the guildhall to retrieve his missing items of clothing. While he was absent Erza took in every single detail of the sword she held in her hands. She twisted it this way and that, letting the light reflect off its shiny metal and beautiful pommel stone. She noticed that despite the rather unconventional shape, size and appearance it was actually quite well balanced and had a nice swing. The ice mage eventually returned to the sparring area behind the guild while the knight was still testing out the odd item.

"What did you say it was called again?" Erza inquired.

"That woman called it Duskfang. It also had a counterpart called Dawnfang... but she said that the two swords were one and the same."

Erza raised an eyebrow and chucked the sword back to Gray, who was a little afraid that she would just chuck around such a deadly looking item but he caught it with no harm done. "Was there anything else..?"

"Hmm... the first thing she did with this version was a slash attack which made a sharp wave of ice appear. The second was a defensive stroke which emitted a shield; there was also a more advanced version of this. She could also stick the sword in the ground which made ice pillars shoot out from the floors and walls." He explained while rubbing his forehead, "Also she said that she had 'satisfied their lust for battle'. That combined the two swords and she could make freezing fire which even brought Mira's Satan Soul to a standstill."

"That's quite a lot of abilities... this is definitely one of the most powerful weapons I've come across... to think what it would be like if you had both counterparts..."

"So will you train me?"

"I don't know, you might have to work this one out for yourself." Gray looked a little devastated at her answer but he was not about to just give up. He watched her walk back inside and tried pouring a bit of his magic power into the blade. It was faint, but he was sure he saw some kind of frosty glow emanate from within the gem. Perhaps being an ice mage gave him a head start here.

* * *

**I**n_s_**i**d_e_

"Hey, Natsu, we haven't gone on a date in _ages..._" Sting complained. He was right as well. Before the two had even returned, Natsu had decided to cram in as much training as possible due to missing his friends and needing to be home. Unfortunately, their last week had practically all been spent on trains, attempting to perfect the calculations from the basic equilibrium magic in order to cure their motion sickness. Which they only partially succeeded in doing so. So by the end of all this, they both felt very ill with Natsu complaining about a headache from all the complex sums. Of course _after_ Natsu had returned to Fairy Tail, Lisanna was kidnapped; so to say that that had interrupted their time together would be an understatement.

Natsu looked up at him after taking a long sip of his hot chocolate. Licking his lips, Natsu responded, "Huh? You mean like two weeks? There's been all that weird stuff happening as well?"

"Why don't we go on one _now?_"

"Okay!" Natsu jumped to his feet and downed the last of his drink with his characteristic lack of hesitation. _Woah, I'm never gonna get used to how __energetic he is. But I suppose that__'__s __just __one reason__ why I love him... _ Sting watched his boyfriend pace around like an impatient puppy; just two months ago he didn't even know what a date was. Then again Natsu was probably just excited for some delicious food. Not that Sting could blame him; sometimes even he would eat almost as much as the fire Dragon Slayer.

Sting joined Natsu and headed out, leaving the comfortably warm guildhall for the chilly, windy outdoors. Just as Sting was about to ask Natsu where he wanted to go, the pink haired man stopped walking and looked around frantically, sniffing the air.

"What is it?"

"He's here already!" Natsu's facial expression was somewhat a mixture between a grin and a frown which Sting couldn't replicate if he had all the time in the world. Before the blonde could pester him any further, Natsu was hit with a hard punch to the side of the head which knocked him straight down. However, Natsu rolled backwards, kicked his feet onto the ground and got straight back up.

"Salamander!" The new figure who Sting did not recognise scowled. He was of average height and had long, pointed crimson hair. His features were quite sharp, most notably his pointy ears and sharp canines. Sting also noticed the nasty looking scar that crossed his right eye.

"Cobra!" Natsu shouted back. _What? __Cobra t__he dark mage of Oracion Seis? What the hell's he doing here? _Sting thought. Natsu then lunged at the guy with a fist but he stepped to the side, completely nonchalantly.

"You should know by now, I can _hear_ you!" Cobra teased.

"Yeah, well you're still going to have trouble keeping up." Natsu retorted and activated fire drive; the air around the group of three heating up to an unbearable level as a result.

"Ooh, I'm sooo scared." Cobra dodged a concession of incredibly fast physical strikes. _Damn it he's right, it is hard to keep up, guess I'll have to start using magic. _Cobra then aimed a kick dripping with poison right at Natsu's abdomen but the kick travelled straight through Natsu's body, throwing the poison Dragon Slayer completely off balance. The trail where the kick passed through rippled and re-materialised as his torso was stitched back together by flames. Natsu smirked and began his counter-attack. The fight continued for several minutes with no clear victor. Cobra was able to predict most of Natsu's attacks but was unable to avoid a lot of the damage.

Cobra paused while he observed his opponent and just as he about to call it quits, the entire area glowed blue and he was struck with several gigantic pillars of ice which came from all directions. He clutched his sides and screamed in pain. "What the hell?"

"I finally did it!" Could be heard in the distance. Natsu disregarded his opponent and scrambled to the source of the interruption.

"Gray! Why you always got to interfere with other people's fights!?" Natsu spat at the sword wielding ice mage who he had grabbed by the collar.

"It's not like I meant to!" He snapped a bit too quickly. "Besides there was no way you were going to win that fight." He sneered, changing back to his typical rivalry.

"Hey! Natsu and I were about to go on a date before you guys rudely interrupted!" Sting shouted at his boyfriend's rival.

"You two are _together? _Damn I feel sorry for you man." Cobra snickered and patted the pink haired man on the back.

"That must be a lot of trouble to deal with, Natsu." Another figure wearing a mask and cloak who Sting did not recognise had joined in, with a hushed tone of voice. A pink haired girl by his side nodded theatrically in agreement.

"Jellal?" Natsu questioned. _Jellal as in __the__ ex-councilman and criminal Jellal? What the hell is going on? And more importantly why is everyone m__ocking__ me? _Sting was infuriated.

"WHY IS EVERYONE MAKING FUN OF ME?" He demanded, earning him fits of laughter. This took priority over the appearance of serious criminals to the prideful mage.

"That's what you were concerned about?" Gray asked. One last person decided to join the group and Sting groaned because he knew she'd most likely make things worse before better. He resorted to a facepalm which caused a noticeable red mark.

"My, my, what _have_ I missed?" Mirajane chirped, sickly sweet as always.

"Nothing." Sting muttered.

"Err, Sting - I was supposed to explain before they arrived but I forgot. Master seems to trust you with this information, so... this is Crime Sorciere, the vigilante Guild." The takeover mage went on to explain about all of the members, their circumstances and how they'd become close to the members of Fairy Tail.

"And of course, this is their newest member, Eric." She pointed to the poison Dragon Slayer.

"Don't call me that." Cobra hissed.

Sting looked a little pale by now. _Seriously this guild has been involved in some serious shit. __Still I can't help but feel that they really do forgive their enemies. _

"Erm, hi everyone I'm Sting..."

"We know, we saw you get your ass handed to you in the Daimatou Enbu." Meredy joked, much to Sting's annoyance._ What is with these guys? _Sting was becoming increasingly annoyed from being introduced to these weird ex-criminals who were insulting him _and _interrupting his plans.

"Down to business..." Jellal hinted, turning his hand in a 'moving on' gesture.

"Now we can go find and destroy those server vaults, Master has suggested we stick with each other to do so in case something bad happens again." Mirajane revealed.

"Getting to smash up stuff. Sounds like fun." Natsu suddenly had a brilliant idea (to him). "Hey, Sting this can be our date!" He offered his hand courteously to the blonde. Everyone expected Sting to be furious by this suggestion and this time gave _him_ the pitiful looks, but they were swiftly proven wrong.

"Meh, I could do worse." He shrugged.

"Hey, I don't want to be some kind of third wheel..." Gray mused, half joking since he thought that Natsu and Sting were just idiots.

"What about me?" Mirajane smiled innocently.

"What? Why would you even suggest such a thing?" Gray shouted, but he instantly regretted this as the silver haired barmaid burst out into tears dramatically.

"Gray, that was mean!" She cried. _Shoot, what the hell do I do now? _Gray worried.

"D-don't cry, Mira. I was just confused that you went along with the fire breathing bastard's dumb idea. You can be my date to go destroy stuff with." _Nice save, _Gray thought.

"Yay, I knew you would!" All traces of tears were gone as she latched onto Gray's arm; causing everyone present to doubt the authenticity of her outburst.

"Why am I stuck between the two weirdest couples on Earthland on the most pathetic excuse for a date ever?" Cobra whined, scuffing his shoes on the stone paving as he starting walking away from the guildhall and its annoying, _loud_ mages.

"You two coming?" Natsu asked Jellal and Meredy.

"No, I think we'll just hide out somewhere until you're done with Cobra."

"Oh - and, Jellal. I believe Erza wants to see you." Natsu mentioned in a mischievous manner, earning a blush from the rogue mage.

"THIS WAY! I can hear where they are." Cobra was now several paces ahead of Natsu, Sting, Mirajane and Gray. Everyone was happy for now; they were out to bust some electronics to make sure that Bindweed wouldn't fool them again. Cobra actually felt very much amused after his fight with Natsu and teasing the blonde guy. He almost felt like he was appreciated for once and that he could maybe fit in with these people. Little did they know at this time but soon they would no longer be able to keep the relaxed atmosphere as a chain of catastrophic events was already set in motion.

* * *

…

-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _**5**-

…

-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

…

* * *

**I would like to use this Author's note to thank my reviewers Know-Your-Place, blueAztec and darkhuntressxir since I have not done so yet. **

* * *

**Darkhuntressxir: Will there be Gray x Mira? **

**Yes, as you can see, a tiny bit. Mostly for humour. I love writing in Mirajane and I just thought it would be hilarious if she decided to start manipulating Gray. **

* * *

**I also want to say that the Sting x Natsu part of this story IS RELEVANT to the plot later on. **

**As for update times... it turns out I'm fine with writing from about 9-11 and it doesn't mean I have to take time out of doing art prep work. So yeah, I will basically have consistent (or faster) update times. I already know exactly where this story's going so writer's block will not be a problem.**

**About Cobra's induction to Crime Sorciere; I thought that this would be interesting and considering what happens after chapter 367 with Crime Sorciere and Oracion Seis, it isn't far fetched. **

**Random thought about this fanfiction... it all stemmed from that one part in "A Second Chance" about Levy using a "Lacrima Mini Archive" to read gossip news on the Weekly Sorcerer. Suddenly, a plot formed in my head somehow.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Attack

**P**r_e_**v**i_o_**u**s_l_**y**

**Cobra has been busted out of prison by Jellal, Meredy and Doranbalt. Forced to join Crime Sorciere, he has now arrived at Fairy Tail in order to lead a team consisting of Gray, Mirajane, Natsu and Sting to the archive server vaults around Magnolia so that they can be destroyed. Behind the scenes, Emery and Bindweed corporation are about to make a move.**

* * *

...

-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **6-

…

-**A**t_t_**a**c_k__-_

…

* * *

**B**l_a_**c**k _L_**o**t_u_**s**, T_w_**o **D_a_**y**s _L_**a**t_e_**r**

Morgan absolutely loved her job. She'd been best friends with Emery since they were children and she was absolutely ecstatic when the girl had asked her to become the chief engineer for Bindweed Corporation. Day after day, they'd always been tinkering with this and that for fun until she'd really became an expert; so it was no surprise really. However she still looked up to Emery as the better scientist; after all, it had been her who perfected the Bindweed Archive in the first place. That was how everything had begun and now, Morgan would follow any path Emery chose and together they'd bring Bindweed to unimaginable heights. There was but one obstacle in that path.

"Morgan, we have a problem." Emery Bindweed paced back and forth across the pristine floor, her slippers making slight slapping noises with each step. The engineer didn't even glance up from the screen she had been staring at all morning. "A group of Fairy Tail mages have been going around destroying all of the server vaults around Magnolia. We need to take the fight directly to them."

"I know that. What do think I've been planning?" Morgan didn't even chance a look away from the monitor. Curiosity got the better of Emery and she came and stood also staring at the screen.

"What is this?" she asked, pointing at what appeared to be some giant monkeys being destroyed by a group of small, strangely dressed beings in a fairly large, panelled white room.

"Ah, remember 'Troll Candy'?"

Emery nodded. "Go on..."

"Well, I had already made two other versions; one named 'Troll Spice' and the other 'Troll Ice'. To test each one's combat skills, I placed three of each in a room with a few vulcans."

"And?"

"So far, they've been more than acceptable. In fact, they have exceeded my expectations; their abilities are superb."

"What are their 'abilities'?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out." Morgan smirked at her boss' downcast but irritated expression. "Don't worry, after all, they are going to be used very soon..."

* * *

**W**e_s_**t **M_a_**g**n_o_**l**i_a, _**E**v_e_**n**i_n_**g**

The air was thick with dust in the once neat and tidy cavernous space. Where once there had been shelves and shelves of advanced machines, coiled with wires and lights blinking away; there were now piles of warped and twisted brass, some of it corroded, some melted and some shattered. Two distinct echoing voices kept the dead place lively and the ones who they belonged to kept the dust from settling with their ridiculous fight.

"Face it! I destroyed way more vaults than you!"

"You obviously can't count because I destroyed six and you destroyed four! That's two more!"

"Oh yeah, well mine were harder to destroy so I still beat you!"

"Idiot, they were all the same!"

This row had been going on like this for quite some time. Despite being told to stick together, they had split up into two teams once all the vaults had been located. Cobra, Mirajane and Gray on one team; with Natsu and Sting on the other. This had happened for two reasons: 1) Natsu desired competition with Cobra after their unresolved fight and 2) Sting had wanted some alone time to blow up stuff with his boyfriend (seriously these guys are nuts). When the two groups had met up afterwards to destroy the last remaining vault, Natsu and Cobra had immediately started brawling.

"Cut it out already, flame brains and poison breath. You're giving me a headache. Also, I destroyed more than the two of you _combined_." Gray apparently wanted to join in.

Natsu and Cobra instantly retaliated with "What did you say, underwear pervert?!" and "Like hell you did! Also, 'poison breath', really?"

Two people present were aware of the fighting but neither made a move to put an end to it. Sting scuffed his foot and looked at the ground as he kicked away some scrap metal. He took a breath and raised a hand as if to speak but decided against it. He instead nudged the ever smiling takeover mage beside him.

"Hey, Mirajane-san, shouldn't we put a stop to this and head back?"

"You know you don't have to be so formal, just call me Mirajane or Mira-san. After all you're practically family now."

Sting was a little shocked to hear Mirajane say this. "Me? Family?"

"Yeah. I mean you're with Natsu so that makes you like family to us."

"Really?" Sting asked and Mirajane's smile only grew in affirmation. "Thanks, err... Mira-san."

"Don't worry about it." The two finally got drawn back to the scene before them when Natsu was sent flying into Sting, who in turn crashed into a pile of rubble. His patience was now wearing thin.

"Natsu! We're leaving now. The job's done." He grabbed Natsu by his scarf and all but dragged him out of the narrow tunnel entrance. The rest were thoroughly stunned by how much control Sting had over the rowdy pink haired Dragon Slayer whom they had never seen dragged around by anyone who wasn't Erza. After gasping, Cobra nudged Gray and the two snickered. Cobra's giggling only became more intense – much to the other's dismay - when Mirajane took Gray's hand while he was completely unaware and forced him to walk beside her.

Finally, the group left the trashed tunnel to find themselves on a rocky outcrop with a view over all of Magnolia; the lights of all the houses visible in the dark night. Particularly standing out were the lit up spires of Kaldia Cathedral and the three tiered castle that was Fairy Tail. That was where they were headed. It had been a long, tiring day and it was getting pretty late at night so all Sting wanted to do now was snuggle up in bed with Natsu. Too bad he was too busy with his fluffy romantic thoughts to see the oncoming chaos.

* * *

**M**e_a_**n**w_h_**i**l_e_

"What's the status?" Emery asked her engineer.

"All coordinating systems are online!" Morgan cheered.

"Okay then, begin." Emery tucked in to her signature packet of ginger snaps, not caring about the mess she was making all over the switch board. She then kicked against the wall, sending her desk chair wheeling and spinning across the room.

"You know, you're gonna get fat if you keep eating those."

"What? I don't get fat!" She waved off the insult.

"Hey, won't we get in trouble with the Magic Council?" Morgan pressed.

Emery wiped the crumbs off her face, covered her mouth and giggled faintly. "Nope. We have them in our pocket. Plus, they rely too much on our technology and weapons. We can basically do whatever we want."

* * *

**F**a_i_**r**y _T_**a**i_l_

Currently sat at at a table in the corner of the guild hall were Lucy, Levy Loke, Cana Lisanna and Elfman. Lucy looked incredibly frustrated as did Levy, the cause of their problems being their lacrima archive devices. Lucy banged the lid of her Lacrima Mini Archive several times while Levy kept aimlessly hitting refresh on her Lacrima Tab.

"Seriously what is with you two?" Cana looked very bemused by their antics. "I was just trying to drink in peace here before you guys all decided to gather round."

"You were doing divinations." Lisanna excused, "I wanted to see if there was anything to gossip about."

"Yeah well for some reason nothing's been coming up lately."

Lucy gave up trying to fix her problems and just sighed in defeat.

"What is my princess' problem?" Loke asked sincerely.

"It just won't connect to the Archive," she cried.

"I think the servers are down..." Levy reasoned morosely and took out a book like she always used to.

"Well? Why don't we just have a conversation?" Lisanna suggested since she was well aware that there was a team currently out destroying said servers.

"Conversations are a man!" Was Elfman's support.

"Okay." Lucy smiled at her friend, "Come to think of it, it's pretty quiet without Natsu around. I wonder where Gray is as well."

"Well, Natsu's with Sting... and I think Gray is training..." Lisanna lied – sort of.

"Hmm, Sting huh? I can't believe Natsu got a hot boyfriend before I did."

"What about me?" Loke placed an arm around his master's shoulders.

She swiftly removed that arm. "You're a perverted lion."

"Yes, but I'm _your _perverted lion," he whispered suggestively and Lucy could not even think of a logical response as she went in to a mental breakdown.

"No you're not!" she screamed. Levy was about to mention something about protesting too much however everyone's attention was efficiently drawn away by three figures who were standing on the stage.

"May we have everyone's attention!" Erza bellowed. The guild was silent. Stood next to Erza was Jellal – dressed in his Mystogan attire, and Meredy – wearing her Crime Sorciere cloak. Each one of them was holding a large bucket. "So here's how this goes. Jellal, Meredy and I are going to walk around the guild hall and every single person will drop any archive devices they have on their person into these buckets."

"EHHH?"

"On Master's orders," she continued.

Several members were furious. Various protests were thrown around, such as:

"But I paid good money for it!",

"Mine was a birthday present!"

and, "I need it to write up mission reports!"

Erza wasn't having any of this. "We're not destroying them. Just confiscating. Anyone who objects will have to go through 'IT'."

"Nooooooooooooo!"

Following this, when Erza, Jellal and Meredy stepped around the tables with their buckets, everyone reluctantly tossed aside their precious electronics. Erza eventually reached Lucy's table and waited patiently - but also tapping her armoured boot on the floor - while Lucy hugged her Lacrima Mini Archive to her chest.

"Come on Lucy, we were all fine before these things were invented." Erza insisted and nudged the bucket against Lucy's tightly crossed arms.

"Lucy, we all had to do it too." Levy supported. She had been quite sad to be confiscated of the presents which Gajeel had bought for her but she knew better than to against Erza and Makarov for some petty toys.

"Fine." Lucy huffed and gave in, gently placing her Mini Archive on top of the accumulated pile in the bucket. She let go of the last corner and turned back to the table to chat to her friends but before she could do so, she was shoved off of the bench roughly and pressed against the floor.

"Lucy, look out!" Loke shouted, shielding Lucy's body protectively with his own. Lucy didn't understand the cause of his outburst but she didn't need to. A massive explosion tore through the walls of the guildhall like paper, shattering the glass windows in succession and splitting all of the columns supporting the ceiling. Rubble was tossed outwards from the impact and scattered across the blast radius.

Lucy lay still and thanked Loke's precautionary actions when the ringing in her ear eventually stopped. She opened her eyes and felt a weight pressing against her. She tried to shift it off but it wouldn't budge so easily. Realisation suddenly dawned upon her as she took in what it was.

"Loke?" she whimpered desperately.

"Lu...cy" His voice was thin and raspy. Lucy was shocked to see the state he was in. By protecting her, he had suffered many injuries. Most prominently was the shrapnel jutting out of his back. Finally, he rolled off of her and winced at the pain inflicted by doing so.

"Loke, are you going to be okay?" She teared up but Loke reassured her.

"I'll be fine. I just need to return to the spirit world to recover. I'm sorry but you're going to have to go without me for now." Lucy nodded as Loke disappeared in a burst of light, leaving the shrapnel which was previously lodged in his back lying bloody on the floor.

* * *

**M**i_n_**u**t_e_**s **A_g_**o**

The group tasked with destroying the server vaults were strolling back along the street which ran adjacent to the river. Already they'd noticed the looks of exasperation and rage on the civilians' faces due to the loss of connection. Surprisingly, Gray and Natsu were talking, not arguing.

"So, what exactly is Equilibrium Magic?" Gray asked.

Natsu gained a blank look in his eyes and just pointed at Sting to answer. The blonde sweat dropped at this but complied nonetheless. "Equilibrium Magic is a type of magic which can alter or switch the balance of anything in this world. Potentially it is incredibly powerful yet Natsu and I only know it on an incredibly basic level. Also, if you picture the magic like a set of scales, then for one side to go up, another must go down. In other words, something must be given in order to produce an opposing effect." Sting eloquently explained, "So when Natsu used 'Heighten Senses' what actually occurred was Natsu relinquishing some of his sense of sight, hearing and touch in order to boost his sense of smell." Gray was amazed at this since he hadn't even noticed at the time. Sting continued with his explanation. "But all we originally wanted to do was cure motion sickness and for that we just needed to balance out various effects of motion to numb the sensation. If one was to truly master Equilibrium then they could even switch darkness and light -"

"- like Nirvana?" Gray realised with a frown.

"Precisely. Very dangerous stuff indeed."

Cobra and Mirajane had been listening intently while Natsu had a bored expression on his face and walked with his hands behind his head. He'd heard it all before, Sting and Rogue had had to explain it to him several times before ultimately resorting to the use of an actual set of scales in order for Natsu to understand.

Just then, there was the distinct sound of the deafening explosion which had decimated the Fairy Tail guildhall.

"Shit!" Cobra screamed, falling to the floor and covering his ears. The others didn't notice this as they all raised their heads to see a column of fiery smoke in the distance. They soon realised exactly where the explosion had occurred.

"NO!" Natsu yelled and took off in a sprint towards the guild. Sting followed him, activating white drive to reach a significantly higher speed. Mirajane used Satan Soul to ascend into the air, carrying Gray with her. Cobra eventually recovered and ran after the rest, but had no means of catching up to their pace.

Natsu and Sting were appalled when the pile of rubble which was once the proud guildhall of Fairy Tail came within their view. It was still distant, but Natsu noted that there were many casualties. Several of the stronger mages were standing amidst the rubble and firing off spells into the air. Wendy was busy healing the injured members while Happy, Lector, Carla and Lily were flying people out of the wreckage.

It was then that Natsu realised what they were firing at.

A swarm of Magic SE Copters were circulating the group of fighting mages and returning fire upon them. They stopped doing so for a minute when all of the copters ascended in unison and began parachuting hundreds of unidentifiable, but horrifying figures. They rapidly descended down to Earth like disgusting blossom from a rotten tree, blocking out the view of the moon and the starry night sky.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted when she realised that her friend was fast approaching. Before she could get over to him though, one of the figures touched down on the ground directly in front of her.

It was a vicious creature. One that the members of Fairy Tail would not forget for a long time to come.

* * *

…

-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _**6**-

…

-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

…

* * *

**Okay, so that was the beginning of the attack on Fairy Tail. I can't wait to write about the troll series. **

**Also in this chapter: Equilibrium Magic! I hope you liked my explanation/concept of the magic, since it will play an important role later. If you think the romance is currently too fluffy, don't worry it will get tense in later chapters (I did say that the pairing is relevant to the plot - although the Gray/Mira not so much). **

**Now about update times, currently I am working on two stories. This one, and a Gray x Ultear story. Basically, whichever one has the most follows/reviews will be updated faster, right now they're about even but I've only written a short prologue for "Before Her Time Runs Out" so... GrayTear vs StiTsu! (Although personally, I prefer writing shounen ai pairings.) To anyone who is following that story I will probably update on Sunday (or earlier).**

**Any support won't go unappreciated, from constructive criticism to simple acknowledgement, it's all good. **


	7. Chapter 7 - Night Fight Part 1

**P**r_e_**v**i_o_**u**s_l_**y**

"Natsu!" Erza shouted when she realised that her friend was fast approaching. Before she could get over to him though, one of the figures touched down on the ground directly in front of her.

It was a vicious creature. One that the members of Fairy Tail would not forget for a long time to come.

* * *

_BTW I've had to use a different kind of writing style for these fight scenes._

* * *

...

-**B**i_n_**d**w_e_**e**d _A_**r**c_h_**i**v**e**-

…

-**C**h_a_**p**t_e_**r **7-

…

-**N**i_g_**h**t _F_**i**g_h_**t **P_a_**r**t _1_-

…

* * *

**C**u_r_**r**e_n_**t**l_y_

Erza calmly observed the creature carefully, knowing not to recklessly attack an unknown. She had never quite seen anything like it in all her time; and she'd seen a lot of weird things what with being a Fairy Tail mage and all. It was stout, yet at the same time lanky, and its limbs were... gnarly. Two military green armour plates rested on each shoulder which were touched by its matted long yellow hair. Its disproportionately small eyes were rose in colour and where it should have a nose and mouth instead it had a long beak. The thing gave Erza a predatory look before snarling and taking out its weapon that was resting on its hip. The weapon being a long magenta whip.

Erza did not give time for the creature to use the weapon on her as she instantly slashed it across the chest with a sword. To her amazement the sword only made a shallow scratch.

"Circle Sword!" she shouted, summoning many swords which formed a circle, rotated in a sheering manner and knocked the creature back, effectively incapacitating it.

"Erza!" Natsu and Sting had finally made it to her position. They regarded the fallen beast which lay at her feet.

"Be careful, their skin is quite tough," the knight warned. Sting seemed to look at her funny for a second but before she could inquire as to why, she was pushed aside.

"Look out!" Natsu warned. She flicked her head around in time to see another one of the creatures had crawled behind her and had attempted to whip her. The tip barely missed her and she would have been hit had she not been pushed out of harm's way. To her surprise however, as the crack resounded, a sphere of purple energy was released which appeared to be the true nature of the attack from the whip which Erza deduced to be a magical item.

Natsu and Sting were knocked off balance by the energy while Erza's long red hair was singed ever so slightly.

Sting decided to make the next move, releasing his signature "White Dragon's Roar." The narrow ray of light decimated the attacker, causing its scaly body to crumble away into dust.

"Sting! We're surrounded!" Natsu had noticed that while they were dealing with the one attacker, several more had dropped down and had formed a circle around the three mages. The fire Dragon Slayer knew that they had to be dealt with quickly so that they could find the rest of their comrades. Natsu ignited his arms and feet and made to lunge at the nearest creature.

He was stopped dead in his tracks and almost fell backwards as a stream of glowing yellow bolts slammed into the ground before his feet. Each tiny impact made a sizeable crater in the stonework, spraying Natsu with rubble, henceforth causing him to shudder at the thought that that could have been him had it been him that was hit.

Natsu realised that he was not safe yet. He tilted his head up, tracing the trajectory of the bolts to find that the Gatling gun of one of the Magic SE Copters was pointing right at him. Time seemed to slow down for Natsu as he watched the rotary blades swing calmly round when the machine veered to the left, gun locking on to its target. The resounding beating noise that the machine made echoed Natsu's own heart thumping uncontrollably in his ribcage. _I really am going to be hit this time..._

His fear was alleviated by cause of an unidentifiable object latching onto the copter in order to adjust its aim away from the Dragon Slayer. The yellow bolts fired off in to the sky, out of harms way. Natsu couldn't be any more relieved especially when he realised who was responsible... _Mirajane, I'll have to thank her later. _

-oo_oo-oo_oo-oo_

Mirajane had arrived at the scene very shortly after hearing the explosion. Flying using her Satan Soul, she circled the wreckage of the guildhall in an attempt to single out any one of the guild members. She noticed that Lucy was currently holding back a group of vicious snarling creatures with Aries and Taurus. Recalling that she still had Gray in her grip, she dropped him off next to the celestial spirit mage, instructing him to stick with her for the time being.

With that, she continued her examination of the scene, noting the sheer numbers on the side of the mysterious attack force. There were at least thirty attack choppers and several hundred of the ground forces. Well, that won't be for much longer if she had anything to say about it.

The copter nearest to her started firing off its main gun towards the ground. It then slowed tilting towards the ground while the gunner readjusted his aim. _Not on my watch! _

She increased her speed tremendously and in an instant she was at the copter's side, her fist leaving a dent in the armour plating. The hit caused the gunner to miss - probably to someone or other's relief - but now how to take it down... Mirajane moved to the back of the machine where the tail was located, thinking of the most exciting, and least magic draining way in which she could destroy it. After all, there were thirty of them.

Even with her monstrous strength in her demon form, her next feat was going to be hard to pull off. Securing the tail of the chopper in her hands, she grunted with the effort it took when she pulled it back. Swinging it back and above her head with much strain, the demon then tugged using all of her strength to send it hurtling towards the ocean.

The chopper spun and spun as the deep black waters gradually filled the pilot's views. He panicked and frantically pressed eject several times, managing to do so right before his machine touched the surface. It skipped along the water once, the second time it crashed heavily, exploding upon contact and sinking to soon become a lump of scrap metal on the ocean floor.

Mirajane hovered above the ground next to the sheer cliffs behind the guildhall, watching the tall waves disrupt the moonlight reflected in the water before they crashed loudly into the rocks below her. She admired her handiwork.

She panted a bit from the effort it took to pull off such a stunt but at least she'd conserved her magic power. She flew higher and was happy to see several more mages had joined her.

"Mirajane," Erza spoke, also flying in the air next to her was Panther Lily, Evergreen, Lisanna and Freed. "All of us who can fly have to take out the Magic SE copters..."

"I know..." The demon smirked.

-oo_oo-oo_oo-oo_

Natsu had only just recovered from the shock of almost being shot to pieces and had already taken down a couple of the attackers when he felt a presence behind him and a hand leaning against his shoulder. He took the arm and turned to see Sting looking slightly beat up.

"Natsu we're surrounded..."

Upon hearing this, the Dragon Slayer looked right and left, taking in the large number of creatures advancing upon them from all directions. Erza had already left them, claiming that she needed to form a team with flying capabilities in order to take down the aerial enemies. Natsu noticed that the ground force consisted of three types of the same creature: the first type had yellow hair, wore green armour and wielded a magenta whip while the second was adorned with more bluish pigments and carried a blue whip. The third had wild red hair, wore crimson armour while its whip was black.

"They just keep coming. Just what the hell are they?"

"I've fought something similar to them before; they're trolls," Sting responded, "but I haven't seen ones which attack like an army before...they're too organised..." he trailed off. He noticed movement to his right. Before he had time to counter, one of the red 'trolls' snapped its whip down. As it did so, a cloud of suffocating red tear gas was emitted.

The two Dragon Slayers dropped to ground coughing, rolling around and generally trying not to breath in the terrible substance.

"We have to get out of this..." Sting coughed, pulling Natsu up forcefully.

"It's no good," Natsu whimpered, struggling to stand due to lack of oxygen. He couldn't even open up his eyes since tears would just well up, clouding his vision.

"Don't just give up!" Sting tried to slap him forcefully but he too was suffering so it just came out as weak. _Oh damn, _Sting felt like his energy was being drained as his knees slowly gave out on him. He dropped to the floor but he also felt like it was getting easier to breath now. He risked opening up his eyes and was mystified to see the cloud of gas forming into a stream before being sucked away by something.

Or someone. "Cobra," he rasped.

"Seriously, I can't believe how pathetic you look right now." The poison Dragon Slayer slurped up the last of the tear gas which caused him to envelope himself in swirls of his own poison. Purple scales covered his arms from below the elbows and his hands were now clawed. He advanced on Sting and Natsu, kicking them both in the side.

"Get up!" He yelled. The other two Dragon Slayers had no reason to resist save for being embarrassed at being rescued by him and his cocky attitude.

"Right," Natsu regained his battle composure, "let's take down these troll bastards!"

Cobra grinned in anticipation. This was going to be fun.

* * *

…

-**E**n_d _**o**f _C_**h**a_p_**t**e_r _**7**-

…

-**T**o _B_**e **C_o_**n**t_i_**n**u_e_**d**-

…

* * *

**Ah so short. Sorry. Hopefully the next part will come soon. Writing fight scenes involving so many people really is a struggle for me; I spend ages thinking about whose perspectives it will be told through, how they will organise themselves and what hardships and suspense will occur. Anyways, I hope it was worth it even though it was short. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

**Sorry for not mentioning this in the last chapter but "Magic SE Copters" are my interpretation of what helicopters would be called in the Fairy Tail universe. SE is for Self Energy like with the cars. The reason I brought these in is because I like battles to involve more than just enemy mages and I think that the guild, no matter how powerful, would have trouble facing both a ground and air force attacking them at once and by surprise... Literally, this story started out as shounen ai... O_o**

**I know I say this every chapter, but please review if you are reading this, it means more than simply following. Does this story even work? I don't even know if such unpopular pairing should have been placed in an arc like story or whether I should have just done this as a Natsu x Erza or something... but then I wouldn't be able to have fun with certain aspects later... Don't get me wrong I have the exact plot of this story already down and it currently would not work for a different pairing, but I really need more feedback especially on the fight scenes.**

* * *

_One Other Thing_

___I know I've already written this into "Before Her Time Runs Out" but I love recommending stuff._

_If you like Bleach as well as Fairy Tail then I am obliged to recommend "Souls of Dragons" by blueAztec which I have helped out with editing and plot. I actually wrote the prologue. It is a crossover but doesn't follow the typical FT/Bleach crossover cliché in which Ichigo ends up in Magnolia. In "Souls of Dragons" it is the dragon slayers who end up in Seireitei after using a forbidden spell. The dragon slayers must learn to become Shinigami while coping with the loss of their friends back on Earthland. I have also made concept art for this which is linked on blueAztec's profile. _

_ www fanfiction net/u/4870616/blueAztec ____Remove spaces and replace with dots. If you are unable to copy and paste then just click on my profile and then favourite authors, blueAztec. _

___Thanks for reading!_


	8. Apology AN

**- A**/_N -_

**_I am very _sorry _to inform you that this will not be updated for about 2 months. I most certainly am not giving up on this - no I am too obsessed with my plot - but I have many _exams __****very shortly. I may be able to get the Night Fight part 2 within a few weeks though but after that is a nice stopping point in the storyline. I will try to continue updating my other story "Before Her Time Runs Out" which I have had more success with - and yes it is at least twice as good as this story so check it out or whatever. But even that story I will only be able to update maybe once every three weeks :(**

******I know these AN chapters are annoying but I'd rather inform you than just disappear.**

**_Asides from that story if you like the shounen ai which is in this story then I will continue to update the Sting x Gray, Natsu x Rogue drabbles "A Second Chance". The reason is chapters for that story are a lot faster to write, I don't spend ages thinking about them because they are mostly humour and aren't a continuous story so they won't distract me from revising and it doesn't matter if it goes a while without being updated. Yes, they are crack pairings but I think I've made it work. I have posted a chapter for it today BTW._**

**_Come the end of my exams I will update the hell out of this story, so just bear with it - I have a very long just Sting/Natsu train scene planned out with no ridiculous battles for a while so you have that to look forward to. The reason for this is because I think I've left their relationship a little underdeveloped. _**

_**During this time I would appreciate it if you could answer these three questions:**_

_**1) What am I doing right/what do you like about this story?**_

_**2) What am I doing wrong/what do you dislike?**_

_**3) Any suggestions to improve? **_

_**So until next time... uhm... spread the StiTsu love! Don't be afraid to write it or anything...**_


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